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Candice Dupree of the Sky is enjoying her team's relative veteran status compared to the expansion Dream.

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Things said and heard around the WNBA this week

Notes and Quotes: June 2-8, 2008

"I was agitated about some of the mistakes that were happening in the game.
I just channeled that into coming out (in the second half) and trying to ram it
down their throats. That's the way you have to deal with your anger and your emotions
sometimes. You have to channel it into basketball."
- Tamika Whitmore of the Sun on the third quarter (in which Connecticut outscored
Washington 29-12) of Sunday's win over the Mystics

"This is the best 1-7 team I've ever seen." - Fever coach Lin Dunn after narrowly beating the newly 1-7 Comets on Saturday

"The morale is very high. We gave them a little bit of a dose of what we've
been getting from other teams." - Sky coach Steven Key after beating the Dream 91-70 on Saturday, to the Chicago
Tribune

"When Jia and I were on the bench, I was like, 'Jia, remember when this was
us two years ago?' Now, we can laugh about it. But back then, it was pretty bad.
We can relate to losing games by 20-plus points. Hopefully now that won't happen
to us." - Sky forward Candice Dupree, a rookie during Chicago's debut season in 2006,
after Saturday's 91-70 thrashing of the expansion Atlanta Dream, to the Chicago
Daily Herald

"We let them get hot and that's the thing you can't do. If you let those
two get it going you saw how good they are, 54 points tonight."- Monarchs guard Kara Lawson on her defense on Deanna Nolan and Katie Smith
during Friday's home loss to Detroit

"She's Rasheed Wallace without the cussing." - Sun guard Barbara Turner of newly vocal and more demonstrative teammate Asjha
Jones, to The Day

"There's no reason why we shouldn't be in the position that we are now. We've
still got a great team, we're playing well together and we're having fun."
- Tully Bevilaqua, veteran point guard for the 4-2 Fever, of her team's success
without superstar Tamika Catchings, to the Indianapolis Star

"It's either lay down or come out and try to make a little push. The fourth
quarter is a long quarter, and a lot of things can happen."- Diana Taurasi after she and the Mercury had a huge fourth quarter to come
back and beat the Sparks, to the Arizona Republic

"Not bad for a rookie debut. Gee whiz."- Liberty coach Pat Coyle on Leilani Mitchell's starting debut, in which she
went 6-6 from the floor and posted 18 points and seven assists, against the Comets

"It was weird coming into the other locker room. I actually caught myself
stepping off the bus and heading to the left instead of the right. I thought to
myself, 'What are you doing?'- Storm forward Swin Cash on returning to Detroit, where she played for six
seasons, to take on the Shock

"Every day is just amazing. Every day I appreciate life even better than
I was when I was at Wisconsin. . . . Every day I think, 'Wow, is it really me?'
"- Sun rookie Jolene Anderson on life as a professional player to the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel

"This is not life or death. My patriotism isn't defined by basketball. My
patriotism isn't defined in 94 feet of hardwood. I don't expect everybody
to agree with my decision or understand my decision. But I know where my courage
and patriotism lie. So I'm comfortable with it. I'd still do anything for my country."- Silver Stars guard Becky Hammon on her decision to make herself eligible
for the Russian national team at the Olympics later this summer in Beijing, to
the Houston Chronicle

"That would have been really cool. But I think it would be
a lot. I mean, I know everybody here. I would never have enough tickets to give
to everybody, things like that. It would probably be kind of distracting being
here every day."- Sparks rookie and Naperville (Ill.) native Candace Parker on imagining what
it would have been like to be drafted by her hometown Sky, to the Chicago Daily
Herald

Video

Last week, Lauren Hill of Mount St. Joseph University courageously took the floor for her first college game, refusing to let an inoperable brain tumor keep her from achieving her dream – and WNBA stars Elena Delle Donne and Tamika Catchings were on hand to lend their support.